Moving Forward - 4. Chapter 4 (1.4)

A hubbub of voices began, with the blond stranger in the thick of it. He raised his hand for attention, and slowly the furor died away.

“Pleased to meet y’all, but there’s something we need to take care of first.” He pointed toward Marshall, who leaned against Lee. Lee’s arm was wound protectively about his shoulder. “This man… this friend of yours… was just assaulted. In the bathroom. By some asshole who apparently doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. I think he needs to learn the meaning of the word. What do y’all think?”

All heads swiveled toward Marshall. Roy was on his feet in a second, and Marshall knew he was angry. Lee drew back enough to look into Marshall’s eyes. Marshall could see, as well as feel, how upset Lee was. Marshall was pissed at Denver’s cousin for telling everyone like that. He’d wanted to do it in his own way. A little more privately.

“Marshall, what did happen? Please tell me.”

Looked like he wasn’t going to get that privacy after all. To hell with it. He did nothing wrong, and he wasn’t going to act like a scared rabbit. He took a deep breath and began. “This guy I danced with earlier, I guess he was mad ‘cause I wouldn’t dance with him again. He happened to come in the bathroom when I was there and he thought he’d teach me a lesson. We started fighting… It might have ended worse than it did if he”—with a nod toward Denver’s cousin—“hadn’t been there. He threatened to tell the owner if the guy didn’t leave, so he skedaddled.”

Marshall cast his eyes to the floor. He was angry at what had happened, angry with the man who’d hurt him, but he was also angry with himself for being so weak, for not handling himself very well. Lee tilted his head back, their eyes meeting. Marshall knew without asking Lee wasn’t about to let the matter rest there. He was going into protective lover mode, and God help the man if Lee found him.

A small part of Marshall wanted Lee to do just that.

Lee looked from Marshall to Dustin. “Think you’d recognize him if you saw him again?”

Dustin nodded. “No doubt about it.”

“Would you look around, see if he’s even still here. Do it quietly, without drawing attention to yourself and if you spot him, come tell me?”

“You got it.” Dustin quickly disappeared in the crowd between them and the bar.

“Goddamn, Lee,” Slim said. “Marshall, you okay? Just Goddamn…”

Voices broke around Marshall, like waves against the rocks, pounding at him. He tried to pay attention, but his focus was on Lee.

“I’m fine,” he kept saying. If he said it often enough, maybe it’d be true.

“Will you go back in the men’s room with me so I can get a better look at you?” Lee asked. Marshall nodded. Lee squeezed his hand, pushed back his chair and waited for Marshall to rise. “We’ll be back in a minute. Tell Dustin that if he gets back before we do, willya?”

“Sure thing, Lee.” “You got it.” “Yep.” The guys answered in unison. Lee took Marshall’s elbow in his hand and guided him back to the men’s room.

Men were flowing in and out. Marshall kept a wary eye on them, but none was the one. Lee positioned Marshall under the best light he could find and looked him over carefully. “You have some minor scrapes, nothing serious. I think that cheek might bruise. When we get home, I’ll put some ice on it. Where else did he get you?”

“He yanked on my hair, probably tore some out.”

“Show me.”

Marshall bent his head, putting his hand on the spot. Lee moved the hair around. Marshall sucked in a quick breath. His scalp was sore where the guy had pulled out his hair. Lee lightly prodded the spot then lifted Marshall’s head back into place. “Nothing permanent, I think. Anywhere else?”

“Just knocked the wind out of me.”

“Tell me what he said to you, Marshall.” Lee’s voice was calm, but Marshall could feel the anger beneath his words. He would have rather not said, but he wasn’t about to lie, either.

“He called me a whore. Told me he was going to teach me how to treat men right. Called you my pimp.”

“He did, did he? Just because you wouldn’t dance with him a second time?”

“Yep. Just because.”

The door to the men’s room opened. Marshall tensed until he realized it was Roy.

“I just came to check on you two. If you want me to go, I will,” Roy began, “but I was worried.”

Lee looked to Marshall.

“It’s okay, Roy, you can stay.”

Roy moved back to let another man leave then joined them as they moved to a corner, out of the way.

“I think he’s mostly gonna be bruised, a few cuts, but nothing too serious, luckily,” Lee said.

“That’s good to know. That Dustin came back to the table. He said to tell you he can point the guy out.”

“Well all right, then.” Lee took a deep shuddering breath and looked at Marshall. “Much as I might like to, I’m not going to ask you to sit this out. It’s your fight more than ours, and you’re a grown man. Just know I will have your back. Never doubt that.”

“I never have, Lee.” Marshall felt heartened at Lee’s words.

“I do too,” Roy chimed in.

“Roy, I wouldn’t ask you to get involved, you being a sheriff and all,” Lee began, but Roy shook his head.

“You’re not asking me, Lee. I’m not doing this as a sheriff. I’m doing this as someone who loves Marshall too.”

The men exchanged understanding glances. Lee nodded. “Much appreciated.” He turned to Marshall. “You ready to face him, then?”

Marshall nodded grimly. “Yep, I am. Let’s do this thing.”